Broussard

In what firefighters described as a once-in-a-lifetime call, officials with the Costa Mesa Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue squad were summoned early Tuesday morning to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach to save another man’s penis from perishing. The man, whom authorities declined to identify, other than saying that he was in his 50s, had apparently put his penis through the hole of a steel, ring-shaped dumbbell weight fastener, two or three days earlier.

Costa Mesa garage fire kills pet snake A garage fire in Costa Mesa early Monday caused extensive smoke and fire damage and killed a 10-foot snake. Firefighters responded to the fire in the 900 block of W. 19th Street at about 7:45 a.m., Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. When they arrived, they found smoke and flames coming from a detached garage. It took about 20 minutes for 25 firefighters to extinguish the flames, Broussard said.

Structure fire results in $15,000 damage An abandoned building that once served as an office for the Snug Harbor mobile-home park, burned to the ground in a Monday evening fire, Costa Mesa Fire Department officials said. The 1,000-square-foot building was engulfed in flames when firefighters got to it at about 6:10 p.m. in the 1600 block of Newport Boulevard, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. No one was inside the structure, which was boarded up, he said, and no other buildings were close to the blazing building.

Paul Clinton A family whose house was badly burned over the weekend when a candle tipped over onto a bedspread are living with neighbors, a fire battalion chief said Monday. Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the family of four watched flames shoot out of the open windows of their one-story house in northern Costa Mesa, as firefighters rushed to put out the blaze. The home is in the 1000 block of Cheyenne Street, near South Coast Plaza. The blaze, which started in the son's room, destroyed two bedrooms and a hallway, as well as causing smoke and heat damage in other rooms, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said.

An extra-alarm blaze in Costa Mesa killed a family’s dog, caused $300,000 in damage and displaced a couple Friday night, authorities said. The fire, which damaged the back part of 215 Magnolia St., and slightly affected the two neighboring homes, started about 7:15 p.m. and was knocked down about 7:35 p.m., according to Eighth Battalion Chief Scott Broussard. Other than the dog, Shammy, no one else was hurt. Authorities worried initially that the blaze, which also destroyed a car in the garage, would spread to the neighboring homes because it started in the back where there are no hydrants, Broussard said.

An end is in sight to the Costa Mesa Fire Department's personnel shortage, especially in leadership positions, fire officials said Tuesday. A string of retirements, plus a couple of firings, left the department understaffed, Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. But the department is now taking vigorous steps to correct the problem with hirings and promotions. Fire officials have promoted two battalion chiefs from within, bringing the department up to its full complement of three, Broussard said.

Firefighters remind people it's also time to replace batteries in smoke detectors throughout homes.Change your clock, change your batteries. Local fire departments say it's more than just a slogan. This Sunday, as Newport-Mesa residents set the clocks back one hour, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach fire departments encourage residents to change the batteries in home smoke alarms. It's a cheap and easy way to save your life, fire officials said. "Smoke detectors do save lives -- they save lives because they provide an early warning to residents," said Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard.

Marisa O'Neil A small fire that damaged a 19th Street church Wednesday likely was started by a homeless person trying to stay warm, fire officials said. The fire started just after 1 p.m. in the electrical room of a building at the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. It appeared a homeless person knocked over a lighted can of burner fuel, igniting nearby papers, clothes and an electrical panel, he said.

Across Newport-Mesa school campuses, some children too young to know why American flags were at half-staff Friday were told about what changed the world they were born into. In other places, like at the old courthouse in Santa Ana, people who would never forget looked at the flag and just remembered that day eight years ago. No matter where you were Friday, someone was reflecting on that Tuesday morning in 2001, who was affected and how it made them feel. In Orange County, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa firefighters joined other cities’ firefighters and honored the fallen during a short ceremony in Santa Ana. Traveling north on Pacific Coast Highway, hundreds of motorcycle riders, countless numbers of them decked out in red, white and blue, sped up the coast in a sign of solidarity, memorializing the nearly 3,000 who died in the Sept.

More than 20 Orange County firefighters stood Wednesday at the base of a burnt-out fire training building across the street from Angel Stadium with a week’s worth of supplies at their feet, less than a day from being thrown into the fight that has occupied thousands of their coworkers for the last week across California. Five of them, Costa Mesa firefighters, joked and jawed with Del Taco breakfast burritos in their hands and sleeping bags, sacks full of clothes, and a pile of firefighting jackets and helmets curbside, waiting for the bus that would take them 500 miles north to Butte County.

In what firefighters described as a once-in-a-lifetime call, officials with the Costa Mesa Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue squad were summoned early Tuesday morning to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach to save another man’s penis from perishing. The man, whom authorities declined to identify, other than saying that he was in his 50s, had apparently put his penis through the hole of a steel, ring-shaped dumbbell weight fastener, two or three days earlier.

Across Newport-Mesa school campuses, some children too young to know why American flags were at half-staff Friday were told about what changed the world they were born into. In other places, like at the old courthouse in Santa Ana, people who would never forget looked at the flag and just remembered that day eight years ago. No matter where you were Friday, someone was reflecting on that Tuesday morning in 2001, who was affected and how it made them feel. In Orange County, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa firefighters joined other cities’ firefighters and honored the fallen during a short ceremony in Santa Ana. Traveling north on Pacific Coast Highway, hundreds of motorcycle riders, countless numbers of them decked out in red, white and blue, sped up the coast in a sign of solidarity, memorializing the nearly 3,000 who died in the Sept.

An extra-alarm blaze in Costa Mesa killed a family’s dog, caused $300,000 in damage and displaced a couple Friday night, authorities said. The fire, which damaged the back part of 215 Magnolia St., and slightly affected the two neighboring homes, started about 7:15 p.m. and was knocked down about 7:35 p.m., according to Eighth Battalion Chief Scott Broussard. Other than the dog, Shammy, no one else was hurt. Authorities worried initially that the blaze, which also destroyed a car in the garage, would spread to the neighboring homes because it started in the back where there are no hydrants, Broussard said.

More than 20 Orange County firefighters stood Wednesday at the base of a burnt-out fire training building across the street from Angel Stadium with a week’s worth of supplies at their feet, less than a day from being thrown into the fight that has occupied thousands of their coworkers for the last week across California. Five of them, Costa Mesa firefighters, joked and jawed with Del Taco breakfast burritos in their hands and sleeping bags, sacks full of clothes, and a pile of firefighting jackets and helmets curbside, waiting for the bus that would take them 500 miles north to Butte County.

An end is in sight to the Costa Mesa Fire Department's personnel shortage, especially in leadership positions, fire officials said Tuesday. A string of retirements, plus a couple of firings, left the department understaffed, Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. But the department is now taking vigorous steps to correct the problem with hirings and promotions. Fire officials have promoted two battalion chiefs from within, bringing the department up to its full complement of three, Broussard said.

Firefighters remind people it's also time to replace batteries in smoke detectors throughout homes.Change your clock, change your batteries. Local fire departments say it's more than just a slogan. This Sunday, as Newport-Mesa residents set the clocks back one hour, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach fire departments encourage residents to change the batteries in home smoke alarms. It's a cheap and easy way to save your life, fire officials said. "Smoke detectors do save lives -- they save lives because they provide an early warning to residents," said Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard.

Costa Mesa garage fire kills pet snake A garage fire in Costa Mesa early Monday caused extensive smoke and fire damage and killed a 10-foot snake. Firefighters responded to the fire in the 900 block of W. 19th Street at about 7:45 a.m., Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. When they arrived, they found smoke and flames coming from a detached garage. It took about 20 minutes for 25 firefighters to extinguish the flames, Broussard said.

Marisa O'Neil A small fire that damaged a 19th Street church Wednesday likely was started by a homeless person trying to stay warm, fire officials said. The fire started just after 1 p.m. in the electrical room of a building at the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. It appeared a homeless person knocked over a lighted can of burner fuel, igniting nearby papers, clothes and an electrical panel, he said.

Structure fire results in $15,000 damage An abandoned building that once served as an office for the Snug Harbor mobile-home park, burned to the ground in a Monday evening fire, Costa Mesa Fire Department officials said. The 1,000-square-foot building was engulfed in flames when firefighters got to it at about 6:10 p.m. in the 1600 block of Newport Boulevard, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. No one was inside the structure, which was boarded up, he said, and no other buildings were close to the blazing building.

Paul Clinton A family whose house was badly burned over the weekend when a candle tipped over onto a bedspread are living with neighbors, a fire battalion chief said Monday. Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the family of four watched flames shoot out of the open windows of their one-story house in northern Costa Mesa, as firefighters rushed to put out the blaze. The home is in the 1000 block of Cheyenne Street, near South Coast Plaza. The blaze, which started in the son's room, destroyed two bedrooms and a hallway, as well as causing smoke and heat damage in other rooms, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said.